Apocalypse of Peter

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The Apocalypse of Peter,^{[note 1]} also called the Revelation of Peter, is an early Christian text of the 2nd century and a work of apocalyptic literature. It is the earliest-written extant document depicting a Christian version of heaven and hell in detail. The Apocalypse of Peter is influenced by both Jewish apocalyptic literature and Hellenistic philosophy from Greek culture. The text is extant in two diverging versions based on a lost Koine Greek original: a shorter Greek version and a longer Ethiopic version.

The work's author is unknown, although it is purportedly written by the disciple Peter (pseudepigrapha). The Apocalypse of Peter describes a divine vision experienced by Peter through Christ. After inquiring for signs of the Second Coming of Jesus (parousia), the work delves into a katabasis (vision of the afterlife), and details both heavenly bliss for the righteous and infernal punishments for the damned. In particular, the punishments are graphically described in a physical sense, and loosely correspond to lex talionis ('an eye for an eye'): blasphemers are hung by their tongues; liars who bear false witness have their lips cut off; callous rich people are made to wear rags and be pierced by sharp fiery stones as would beggars; and so on.

It is not included in the standard canon of the New Testament, but is classed as part of New Testament apocrypha. The Apocalypse of Peter is listed in the canon of the Muratorian fragment, a 2nd-century list of approved books in Christianity and one of the earliest surviving proto-canons. However, the Muratorian fragment expresses some hesitation on the work, saying that some authorities would not have it read in church. While the Apocalypse of Peter influenced other Christian works in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries, it eventually became considered inauthentic and declined in use. It was largely superseded by the Apocalypse of Paul, a popular 4th-century work heavily influenced by the Apocalypse of Peter that provides its own updated vision of heaven and hell. The Apocalypse of Peter is an early example of the same genre of the famous Divine Comedy of Dante, wherein the protagonist takes a tour of the realms of the afterlife.
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